GALVESTON - It may be too much to expect the president of the United States to reply to a letter from a Galveston elementary student, but how about 1,300 letters?

Fourth-grader Asher Templewood hasn't heard from President Barack Obama yet, but he and his classmates are hoping. Asher, 9, is among Galveston students who wrote the president asking that he visit the island for its 150th Juneteenth celebration.

"I thought it was great to write to him and get him to come here, maybe even to our school to celebrate Juneteenth," said Asher, a fourth-grader at Coastal Village Elementary and Middle School. "It would be astonishing."

The letter-writing campaign is part of a larger effort to make the coming anniversary the biggest since it was first celebrated in Galveston in 1866. Juneteenth is the name given to the order dated June 19, 1865, that freed the last remaining slaves in the South following the end of the Civil War. Nearly three years after President Abraham Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation and two months after Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee surrendered, Texas slave owners were still refusing to release their slaves.

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That changed when Gen. Gordon Granger, the newly appointed military governor of Texas, arrived with 2,000 troops and issued General Order No. 3.

The action is a significant moment in U.S. history that should be celebrated by all Americans, says Sam Collins III, a member of the Galveston County Historical Commission and the originator of the letter-writing campaign.

"We should all celebrate freedom because as long as one is in slavery, everybody is in slavery," Collins said of the date.

Regional celebrations

Houston, Missouri City and Texas City are among cities in the region where organizers are planning to make this year's celebration exceptional. Galveston's sesquicentennial will feature the annual reading of the Emancipation Proclamation in front of the official Juneteenth monument on June 19, as well as festivals, picnics, concerts, reenactments and African American heritage exhibits.

Although the celebration originated in Texas, the National Juneteenth Observance Foundation says 43 states and the District of Columbia have officially recognized Juneteenth. The occasion was celebrated outside Texas as early as 1895, when the Kansas City Blade published a story about a gathering in that city. Texas declared it a state holiday in 1980.

Some of that history is being absorbed by students from prekindergarten to eighth grade in 10 Galveston schools. The Galveston City Council approved a proclamation supporting the students' efforts that was sent along with a batch of letters as well as a letter of support from County Judge Mark Henry.

Late last year, Collins approached Johnston Farrow, a communications specialist for the Galveston Independent School District, about a letter-writing campaign.

Farrow saw it as a means to teach writing skills, history and civics and it was offered to teachers as an option.

"I was expecting to get a couple of hundred letters, but then it just blew up," Farrow said. "It turned into something more than writing a letter." The campaign proved so popular that Farrow is helping to put together a video at the high school stadium in which hundreds or thousands of Galvestonians will urge the president to pay a visit.

To avoid any misunderstanding, the school district required each student to have a signed permission slip from their parents before they were allowed to write their letter.

'Would be an honor'

Isis Yarbrough, 9, a fourth-grader at Coastal Village Elementary and Middle School, embraced the idea and rushed home to have the permission slip signed. "In my mind I was just saying 'Amazing' over and over and I would just think it would be an honor to see the president," Isis said. "When I got home I was speechless it was so amazing."

Tomyra Jacobs, 9, another Coastal fourth-grader, said, "When I went home I was like, 'I know that she will sign this and I was right.'"

Some of the letters from third-graders to the president are posted on a bulletin board at L.A. Morgan Elementary School. "Please come, it will be a blast!" wrote Eros Hernandez.

Christian Martinez got straight to the point: "My first reason for you to come is because I and my friends want to play with your daughters." The second reason? "L.A. Morgan has the best students. ... I know you will come!"

The first batch of 800 letters was delivered in mid-January and the White House acknowledged receipt of the final mailing last week. The White House did not respond to a request for comment, but in 2006, Obama, then a U.S. senator, co-sponsored legislation that passed declaring the importance of Juneteenth

No support, so far

That doesn't satisfy the Rev. Ronald Myers, of Belzoni, Miss., who has led an effort since 1994 to have Juneteenth declared a national day of observance.

Myers says Congress is waiting for the president to issue a proclamation before following suit with legislation making it a day of national observance.

Myers said Obama as a senator was one of his strongest, but he has only had a single letter from him during his seven years as president. In that letter he declined to attend a Juneteenth celebration in 2010 or issue a presidential proclamation. "He has not been a responsive or supportive president when it comes to Juneteenth," Myers said. "You never see the word 'Juneteenth' come out of his mouth."

However, Obama did issue a presidential proclamation marking the 150th anniversary of the Emancipation Proclamation. "With that document, President Lincoln lent new moral force to the war by making it a fight not just to preserve, but also to empower. He sought to reunite our people not only in government, but also in freedom that knew no bounds of color or creed."

The proclamation called upon Americans to mark the day with "appropriate programs, ceremonies, and activities."

Meanwhile, Galveston ISD students will wait to hear whether the president will attend their celebration.

"They will be very disappointed" if Obama doesn't attend, said Kathryn Pistone Blaser, a second-grade teacher at Oppe Elementary School. "They come in every day and say, 'Have you heard from him, have you heard from him?' "

She said a response from the president would show them that "their voice is valued."

Tomyra doesn't like to think about Obama not coming. "Well, I understand he is busy and stuff, but hopefully he will."

Asher wants the president to come but understands that he might not. "I think he may, but I think he may at least write back," Asher said. "If he does come it will be a miracle because he's a very busy man."

Harvey Rice worked at several other news organizations before joining the Houston Chronicle, including the Jackson Clarion-Ledger, the Mexico City News, El Financiero and UPI. While working for UPI, he was stationed in Mexico City; Washington, D.C.; Miami and London. After joining the Houston Chronicle in 1999, he covered Montgomery County and the federal courthouse in Houston before being assigned to the Galveston Bureau in 2007. He also was sent to Qatar to cover U.S. Central Command during the second Gulf War and was a member of the Enron investigative team.